Village of Lewiston puts kibosh on food trucks

Food truck owners will have to
park their mobile eateries someplace else.

After receiving feedback from
local business owners opposed to food trucks, Village of Lewiston trustees let it be known they
will not allow such an operation.

"I think our minds are pretty much
made up," Mayor Terry Collesano told members of the Niagara River Region Chamber of
Commerce prior to the trustees' monthly work session Monday.

When the meeting began, former
Mayor Richard Soluri spoke of the village's existing restaurant owners' investment
in Lewiston, and what it takes to remain in business in good times and bad.

"I don't think this community is
the size for food trucks," he said.

"We have to protect the
brick-and-mortar places that have investments, that have mortgages. And every
little bit against that hurts," Soluri added. "I'm adamantly against food
trucks. Unless we become a metropolis of 100,000 people, or something, then it
would make sense. ... Sometimes things just don't fit. And you wouldn't want to
force it."

Collesano agreed.

"The feeling is overwhelmingly
against food trucks coming into the village - at least at this time," he said.

"Being small, and the investment
that our local restaurants have in this community, is just too much of an
investment for them - for someone else to come in and reap the benefits," Collesano
added. "It's not fair. It's not fair to the local restaurants."

Trustee Nick Conde said, "I'd be
sensitive to the owners of the existing businesses, you know, the brick-and-mortar
buildings ... and not go for it."

In January, The Great Foodini
owner Michael Attardo requested a facility service contract to
operate from 11 p.m. until 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays on Center Street. Attardo
chose those hours, he said, so as to not compete with village restaurants.

On Monday, he thanked
the board for considering his request, and said, "I was here not to step on
toes, and not to take anything away from local businesses. And try to work
after-hours and bring something else to the community."

Deputy Mayor Bruce Sutherland
acknowledged most restaurants would be closed during the time The Great Foodini
or another food truck would operate. But he also said a handful of places are
open late at night, and one, The Spicey Pickle, is about to open this month
with a late-night menu.

"That new business coming in, that's
going to be their main concern, is staying open on weekends later to garner
that crowd - that late-night crowd," he said. "It would be really detrimental ...
as a brick-and-mortar start-up business ... if there were (a food truck)."

"Maybe down the road there'll be a
spot and a place and an opportunity for food trucks?" Sutherland said. "At this
point, I don't see it."

Collesano suggested Attardo bring
his food truck to the village's festivals. The Great Foodini did operate at
last year's Harvest Festival and Peach Festival.

Attardo has been
operating at festivals and private events in Niagara County. He plans to bring
The Great Foodini to Wurlitzer Park in Tonawanda (every Wednesday) and into Williamsville
and Amherst.

He may look into
operating in other areas of the River Region, too.

Last week, retail and restaurant
owners spoke out against food trucks in a meeting with Chamber of Commerce
leadership. Water Street Landing proprietor Jon DiBernardo's comment became a
mantra for the opposition. He said, "One of my problems that I have
is that, when you cultivate something and you build this great harvest, and
somebody just wants to come in and pick the fruit and leave. It's kind of a
dangerous precedent."

•Trustees adjusted the Lewiston Landing fee schedule for the first time in
more than five years. The daily launch pass will go from $7 to $8 per vessel,
the daily charter from $30 to $40, commercial launch from $140 to $150
annually, and non-commercial from $70 to $80 annually.